November 03, 2011

Senate Judiciary Committee members had "insurmountable concerns" about matters raised during a background investigation of Charles Day, whose nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland was withdrawn Monday, a spokeswoman for the panel's top Republican said Wednesday.

Day, who is a U.S. magistrate judge in the District of Maryland, "is aware of those problems and is free to share that information if he so desires," Beth Levine, a spokeswoman for Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), said in an e-mailed statement. But the spokeswoman said she couldn't provide details of the senators' concerns.

"The nominations process is long and involved and includes many components, including a background investigation, further vetting, hearings and floor consideration," Levine said. "At times there are issues in the early stages of this process which don’t allow a nomination to move to the next stage."

A clerk for Day reached by phone at the judge’s chambers in the Greenbelt, Md., federal courthouse declined to comment.

President Barack Obama initially nominated Day in July 2010 to fill a vacancy left by U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte, who took senior status in 2008. But there was neither a hearing nor a vote on his nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee before the Senate adjourned in December 2010 or after Obama renominated him for the judgeship in January. If confirmed, Day would have filled the only vacancy on the court, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Maryland’s Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, who are Democrats, said in a joint statement that they were "very disappointed" that his nomination stalled in the Senate.

"Judge Day is an extraordinary jurist, greatly respected by the Maryland legal community," they said. "He has the experience and qualities that are needed in our judges. He also understands the day to day lives of ordinary Americans, and the need for their rights to be protected."